


Run

by grasping4light (serenamaes)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, NROTC AU, SHEITH - Freeform, Sheith Quote Week 2017, navy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 22:25:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13153278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenamaes/pseuds/grasping4light
Summary: My contribution for Day 7 of Sheith Quote Week 2017, this time in an NROTC/Navy AU. Keith risks his life to keep Shiro out of enemy hands.





	Run

**Author's Note:**

  * For [matsuoasuka](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=matsuoasuka).



> Adding a brief warning - though there is nothing nsfw about this fic, it insinuates torture and more traumatizing aspects of war. I wanted to let people know, in case they are sensitive to such material.

Someone once told me: I should live instead of dying. Fight until the bitter end. Anything, but give in to the enemy. 

And now was no exception. Nothing was worth it. Nothing was worth watching him suffer. 

Nothing was worth Shiro’s pain. 

Keith watched carefully and debated the options. There was always the choice of waiting to see what would happen next. His captain always had something up his sleeve. He had proved that much in his previous deployments, earning medals and badges of honor at an incredibly early age. 

But patience was not in Keith’s skillset, so he went with the second option. React and charge in, blind and fighting, right into the stronghold of the enemy. It was enough to draw their attention and fire, but he was quick and quick-witted, and he dashed and bolted, kicking a gun to his downed comrade, which earned him enough time to escape. But that instinctive glance was enough to earn him a knock in the back of the skull with a rifle, and he swore he could hear his name swirling into the distance as the lights went to black. 

“Wake up!” The voice was gruff, slapping him awake with a splash of frigid water. “Answer me!”

Keith groaned in response and winced – the room was spinning, and it was cold. Freezing, really; he preferred the heat. But from the gist of his surroundings – moss, covered walls and stained tile, he would have to live with where he was at. “Where’s Shiro?” He asked. 

The guards looked puzzled, glancing at once another. 

“Shiro.” Keith bit at his ropes, tugging against the binds in his chair. “Where is he?!”

“Your captain?” Another man breathed over a cigarette, blowing smoke in the smaller man’s direction. 

“Yes,” he wouldn’t be taken away. “Where is he?!”

“He escaped, with the others.” The man flicked the butt to the ground, stomping it out in a stagnant pool of water. “You, my friend, were the unlucky one.” 

They escaped. It was all he needed. He wouldn’t change anything. They might see it as unlucky to be captured and taken hostage, but he would never want Shiro to be here. Not again. Not after everything he had been through.

“Now,” the tallest guard approached. He was boorish, unkempt, and his uniform was almost too tight for his massive body. “You need to tell us about your friends.” He pulled a blade and leaned closer. “Where are they hiding?” 

The knife wouldn’t faze him; he’d been through worse, and Keith met the guard’s eyes. “That’s none of your business.” 

“Oh,” another voice came from behind him. “This one has spunk!” 

“Quiet, you,” the man hissed before grabbing onto Keith’s jacket, tugging him closer. It nearly lifted him from the floor. “You really want to take that attitude in this situation?” 

“I’m not going to tell you anything.” They wouldn’t kill him; not if they wanted the information that badly. There was no way they would start with the knife. 

And he was right – his comment earned him a hard slap, and he could taste blood, but the guard kept him stable, upright in his chair. 

“That’s a warning.” 

The young soldier spat out the blood pooling in his mouth, and met that intense gaze again. 

“You’ve got another chance to answer me – where are your Seals hiding?” 

He couldn’t count the hours or days – not in this blasted cell. But it had been too long since he had eaten, and longer since he’d had anything to drink. Keith gripped his hands onto the edges of the chair and winced as he looked upward. The skylight – some sort of drain opening – was the only source of light. And even then – it appeared to be under another light or building that obscured the rays of the sun. It was uncomfortable, unpleasant, and cold, but when he closed his eyes – he could see Shiro planning another ambush. Freeing another overtaken village, and it was all he needed to keep breathing. 

The guards would keep coming – this time using the knives. Threatening him with small nicks and jabs, nowhere important, but enough to sting. And when the sting wasn’t enough, they brought in more cold. More pain, and Keith gritted his teeth through it all. 

He had been through worse. 

He had seen his friend suffer with loss and trauma, unable to discern what was real and what was fake after his first deployment. After he came back ask a prisoner of war, with PTSD, and nightmares, all of which were nothing compared to the look on his face when he came out of surgery. An amputation – necessary and risky – it would nearly cost him his life. But he had saved the others from the explosion. The crash. But he was a broken soldier. A man coming to grips with relearning how to live from square one. The prosthetic was realistic, but it was still fake – it still wasn’t him. 

And that is what made it worth it to be here. To take his place this time around. They could come at him as many times as they needed, as many times as it would take to keep Shiro safe. And Keith glared back into the eyes of the man holding his jaw, interrogating him for answers. 

“You little punk,” he growled. “You really think they’re going to come back and find you?” He gripped a bit tighter. “We’ve been holding you for over two weeks now. You’re basically a shell.” He leaned in closer and got quiet. “They won’t be here.” 

But Keith could hear footsteps in the distance. Determined – four pairs of heartbeats, treading through the terrain, and he closed his eyes. And then he heard the tinker of bells, clattering down the storm drain. 

“You’re wrong.” He breathed, just in time for the room to fill with smoke. A click and a beep, and an explosion rocked the room in the distance. 

The man released him, cursed in a foreign tongue, and turned to the door. But he was too late – the metal was bending, breaking to the will of someone stronger, and it flew open with a clang. It was easy to take down the bodyguard, armed lightly compared to the professionals entering the room. 

Keith could make just enough out of the smoke to see a familiar face approaching him. “He’s weak – I need an IV.” It was Pidge, looking into his eyes. “No concussion.” 

“Get him out of here.” Another voice – warm and welcoming, calling in the distance. “Get him back to Coran and Allura, now.” Shiro. Leading the others like a professional. “Lance – did you get us cover?” 

“You betcha,” his voice was clear over the radio. Still obnoxious. “You’re all clear to get back to the ‘copter.” 

“Great.” Shiro was relieved, and he made his way over to Keith. “You did great.” That warm arm gripped his shoulder. “We’re here to take you home.” 

“C’mon,” Hunk grinned, lifting Keith out of the chair easily. “You guys keep me covered – we’re moving out.” 

Keith never thought he’d be happy to be wrapped in a standard issue blanket, lying on a cot, but it felt like heaven compared to that damp cell, and he watched the clouds of smoke fade into the distance as the helicopter lifted. 

“Keith,” Shiro smiled softly, kneeling next to his comrade. “Why’d you do it?” He gripped onto his helmet, and the smaller man could hear the alloy give beneath his strong hand. “You could have been killed?” 

“Shiro,” Keith managed, looking up at his best friend and beloved mentor. “I went with my gut.” 

The man sighed and closed his eyes. “Keith.” 

Nothing. Keith thought to himself. Nothing is worth your pain.

And Shiro seemed to understand when their eyes met again, and he leaned over his friend and whispered. "Let’s get you home.”


End file.
